By Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 25, 2025
After being in a dilapidated condition for several years, the Mexican Sports Center, located in the Marion Jones Sports Complex in Belize City, will undergo a much-needed restoration in the upcoming months.
In early 2020, the Mexican Sports Center was gifted to Belize by Mexico as a symbol of friendship between the two nations, and was set to serve as the central hub for many sporting events in the country.
However, the structure was severely damaged in 2022 after Hurricane Lisa made landfall in Belize, and the hardwood flooring was ultimately stripped due to water damage. The interior was exposed to the elements, and light fixtures hung hazardously from the ceiling.
Following this, a temporary plan was implemented to shut down the venue in preparation for renovation, but the work never began.
The Cabinet has now announced, however, that it has approved $750,000 to restore the venue.
“I can tell you we will have a good amount of money to start some of the upgrades in the facilities, some of the programs we want to launch, and we will go from there,” said Anthony Mahler, Minister of Sports.
He continued, “I’ve been meeting with the management of the National Sports Council. As we move forward we will continue to speak to the federations and the associations, and then we want to have a national symposium where we bring everybody together and show them our plans, our strategies, how we move forward after consultation with the country.”
The primary source of funding for sports in the country is the revenue derived by the Belize Government Lotteries Limited from Boledo sales. Minister Mahler further noted that there are plans to add another lottery as a source of funding for sports in the country.
“We discussed it yesterday, and other ways to raise money, whether it’s a secondary lottery or an endowment fund, which are akin to a concession granted to big companies, so we have some ideas. To me, between youth and sports, you can’t have a budget of $7.5 million, and $7 million is spent on administration and salaries, $250,000 in youth for programs, and $250,000 in programs and maintaining facilities for sports. It is ridiculous,” he added.
